


What Do You Think?

by TooTiredToTry



Category: Marvel
Genre: F/F, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, References to Drugs, Tony Stark Is a Good Bro
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2019-09-29
Packaged: 2020-11-07 19:09:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20822363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TooTiredToTry/pseuds/TooTiredToTry
Summary: When she got home after Stark dropped her off, she slid her hands into the pockets of her bomber jacket to find a small piece of paper. She pulled it out curiously to see a number scrawled on it.Use it, was any context she was given.





	What Do You Think?

When they met, Val was high.

“Hey momma, what’s up,” Val leered with slanted eyes. A distant base of rave music from downstairs thumped in the floor. Vibrations shot up Carol’s entire body with every step. She was leaving, actually, when a smaller woman with thousands of neat, small braids approached her. The braids weaved around each other in sync into a ponytail with a white scrunchie holding them all together at the top of her head. Loose baby hairs were gelled into tiny curtains at her hairline. Her brown skin was dotted with occasional freckles, and her brows were combed into place tidily. Her right ear had a bar running through it, and three piercings in her lobe that reflected in her left ear. The woman had a white crop top hanging off her chest and when she swayed, a blink of undergarment was apparent. Her high waisted jeans were distressed by the thighs and had holes in one of the knees.

“You’re high,” Carol commented.

“No, I’m Valeryie.”

Valeryie snorted at her own joke into her hand. 

“I’m Carol.”

“You’re cute, Carol.”

“You’re high, Valeryie.”

The shorter woman smiled and stepped into Carol’s space.

“Still cute,” Valeryie whispered.

She raised a hand to the base of Carol’s neck and lazily scanned her face. An inch of space separated them as they breathed each other’s air. Jolts of energy hummed in every fibre of her body when Valeryie pressed their lips together tenderly.

It took longer than Carol would like to admit for her to break apart. Valeryie whined and surged forward, but Carol leaned back with hands to her forearms.

“Do you need a ride home?”

“Absolutely,” Valeryie breathed.

Carol grinned.

“No, not for that. You’re crazy off your ass and I don’t trust an uber to get you home safely.”

Carol’s breath hitched when Valeryie licked up her neck to the space behind her ear. She smiled and petted Valeryie. Her skin was warm to the touch, starkly contrasting her own ever-freezing hands. She felt the goosebumps she left behind.

“Woah,” a voice from somewhere spoke.

Carol came back up for air to see Tony standing still in the doorway. His face was painted white from the opened window beaming the night sky at him.

“Hey Carol.”

“Hi, Tony,” she sighed. Valeryie still hadn’t stopped.

Tony’s smirk grew into a malicious grin as he quirked a brow at the pair. Carol blushed and her eyes fell closed.

“Uh, I’m your ride home, unless she is,” Tony asserted awkwardly. 

Carol stepped back and cupped Valeryie’s face.

“Do you need a ride home?”

Valeryie bit her lip and shook her head. She kissed Carol one last time before swiftly walking out the room. Tony bent in on himself to allow her to leave. His double chin dug into his collarbone as she passed.

When they were alone, Tony smacked his tongue.

Then cleared his throat.

Then sighed.

“Can we go home now?”

Valeryie’s ghost still surrounded her, and she remained in a haze. Tony clapped his hands and she snapped to attention.

“Home. Please.”

Carol coughed into a fist and smiled to the ground. Her lips tasted different when she licked across the bottom.

“Uh, y-yeah. Yeah, we can go.”

When she brushed past him, she swore she heard “what just happened” muttered in a low voice.

\---

When she got home after Stark dropped her off, she slid her hands into the pockets of her bomber jacket to find a small piece of paper. She pulled it out curiously to see a number scrawled on it.

_ Use it, _was any context she was given.

\---

They met up at a local coffee shop a week later. Warm tones from the morning sun through window panes filled the area. Carol already ordered her triple mocha with a chocolate muffin when Valeryie came in. Her hair was still in the same braids, but now in a braided into a bigger braid; mesmerizing. Her graphic tee had some cartoons on it and she wore patterned leggings. Her black wedges clacked mutely as she came to Carol’s booth. She crossed her arms on top of each other on the tabletop and beamed kindly.

“Carol, right?”

“Yeah, I’m surprised you remembered, honestly.”

Valeryie sucked in a sharp breath.

“Yeah… sorry about that… it had been a bad day, to say the least.”

They sat in silence. Carol bit her lip.

“Did you make it home safely?”

Valeryie grinned down at her hands as she picked at them.

“Yeah, yeah. I called a friend and he gave me a ride. He wasn’t happy that I was like that, though; he doesn’t like using. ‘Says that, uh,” she looks to the ceiling with an enormous smile on her face, “the government puts mind controlling stuff in drugs to keep us civil.”

Carol barked a laugh and Valeryie giggled across the booth.

“Yeah, I know. He is actually super smart, though.”

“Aw, you have a nerdy friend too? I’m sorry.”

Valeryie sighed fondly as she shook her head.

“They’re fucking crazy.”

“Tell me about it! Tony goes on crazy benders and he forgets that he made plans with me! I get stood up by a nerd! I have a reputation to maintain, for fuck’s sake.”

“Sure, sure,” Valeryie nodded her head in sarcastic seriousness, “cool girls gotta act like nothing matters.”

Carol kicked her under the table, and Valeryie yelped. They each smiled at each other before a full on battle raged underneath the tabletop.

Time passed - she didn’t know how much had, however - and they hesitantly stood up. The line had disappeared and so had other customers. An annoyed looking barista hovered behind the counter, pointedly not looking at them.

“I’d love to see you again, if that’s alright with you,” Carol suggested.

Val cocked her head to one side.

“Sure, Danvers.”

They were almost the same height when Valeryie wore heeled shoes. She was kinda short… it was cute. 

They walked to the corner together, not wanting to be apart. The roads and walkways were deserted in favor of jobs. The middle of the day wasn’t usually the busiest time of day, since people had places to be. 

Carol boldly took Valeryie’s hand and tugged her closer. Carol caught her as she stumbled forward. Their noses brushed and they both grinned.

“This was fun,” Carol murmured.

“Understatement of the year,” Val mumbled. 

They met in the middle, with Valeryie’s hands on her neck. Nimble fingers stroked her blonde hair as she stroked her hips with her thumbs.

They broke for air and Valeryie tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, sending electricity through Carol’s body.

“Tomorrow?”

“So desperate, Danvers,” Val tsked. Carol pinched her sides and she squeaked.

“Yes, okay, damn. Tomorrow.”

\---

A month into their relationship, Carol and Valeryie were sat on Carol’s couch at two in the morning. The apartment was empty, and all the lights were out. Valeryie had her hair in its natural state, and bold curls fought each other for dominance in a useless battle down her back. Her makeup was washed off and all her earrings were in a pile on the bathroom countertop. She was wearing Carol’s flannel over a loose tank top. Her fluffy white pajama pants stretched beyond her ankles when she stood. She was bracing her head on her right arm against the back of the couch.

“You’re terrifying,” Val admitted quietly. Carol froze.

“What did I do? I’m sorry, I was probably caught in the moment; I’m sorry.”

Valeryie smile reverently and shook her head.

“No, no. you’re just… something new, I guess, and it’s scary.”

Carol took her girlfriend’s hand in hers and stroked her thumb back and forth across her knuckles.

“Talk to me, babe.”

“That, that right there. You act like you,” Val sucked in a breath, “you act like you care and I’m scared of that.”

Carol lowered her gaze, her grip unrelenting on Valeryie’s hand.

“No one’s ever made me feel the way you do. I’m not ready for when it’ll be over.”

“I’ll never leave, I promise,” Carol whispered. Valeryie’s smile soured.

“You can’t do that. You don’t know what’s gonna happen or how we’re gonna change or anything. When we break up, I’ll just hear that over and over. Please never say it again.”

“_ When?” _

They each snapped their eyes to each other. Valeryie belatedly seemed panicked a second too late. Carol withdrew her hand.

“You don’t believe in us,” she concluded.

When Valeryie didn’t answer or deny, Carol laughed bitterly.

“Was this just pretending to you? Why-why are you leading me on like this? Were you planning on leaving?”

Valeryie sputtered for something to say, to explain, but nothing came out. 

“You were just going to break my heart, weren’t you?”

“Better you than me,” Valeryie shot back. Her confidence appeared to return and she sat up.

Carol felt like her chest was caving in. This wasn’t allowed to happen. She invested so much time and thought and-

“Why’re you doing this,” she begged with a broken voice. It cracked around the edges as she gripped the sides of her head. 

She loved Valeryie.

“Don’t act like you give a shit. We both knew that this wasn’t going to work. Might as well end it before we waste any more time together.”

“Please leave,” Carol pleaded after tense moments of silence. Val huffed and stormed out, taking everything Carol had loved with her.

She fell onto her bed in the other room, automatically curling into a ball.

Her mind was blank, save for the crashing waves of detriment that filled her ears. 

A storm had come, and Carol hadn’t evacuated quick enough.

\---

Tony barged in two days later with Maria in tow. Tony had a piercing through his brow bone and Maria had a white hoodie on. 

“What happened,” they demanded in unison.

“Not today, guys,” Carol responded sadly.

“They broke up,” Maria stated to Tony.

“It was bad, too,” Tony agreed.

“Straight bad or lesbian bad?”

“Unconfirmed,” Tony answered. They stopped looking at each other and faced Carol.

“Straight or lesbian bad?”

“None of your business.”

Her friends gasped dramatically.

“It was-”

“-lesbian bad.”

They immediately swarmed Carol and petted her face and arms comfortingly with kind words that jumbled together. She let them pull her to the couch.

“What happened?”

Carol shook her head sagely. She didn’t want to recount it.

“She… I don’t know.”

Tony took her right hand.

“I’m sorry, love. We know you really cared for her.”

Carol felt her jaw tick as she blinked back welling tears in her eyes. She swallowed around the obtrusive lump in her throat and straightened her back.

“Can we watch Gravity Falls, please?”

Maria grinned childishly and queued up the television. The cartoon drowned her thoughts for two seasons as her two best friends kept a running commentary on the show.

\---

Months had passed when Carol saw her again.

She was in the library looking for poetry books when she saw long brown braids swing around like a carousel of swingsets. Before Carol could tell her feet to _ fucking stop _ she was face-to-face with Valeryie Brunnhilde. Chocolate eyes widened in surprise and neat eyebrows shot to the sky. After the shock subsided, a warm smile spread across her face. Dimples dug into her skin and her eyes lit up.

“Hey, Danvers,” she greeted. Carol stood gaping awkwardly. She then crossed her arms around her midsection.

“H-hey, Val.”

“I love your haircut,” Valeryie motioned at her head. A short wave of blonde hair stood on Carol’s hair and the sides were shaved. Maria had dared her to get the most unpredictable haircut, so she did. She liked it a lot, too.

“Thanks… how-how’ve you been?”

Valeryie grinned again.

“Better, actually. I started going to therapy and doing prescribed drugs instead of recreational ones,” she huffed a laugh, “trauma’ll do weird shit to you, man.”

“Truma?”

“Oh, yeah. Super duper trauma, my guy. Uh, apparently watching your friend get shot when you were nine will fuck you up.”

“I-I didn’t know… I’m sorry.”

“Wasn’t your fault. I had really bad trust issues when we were together - they’re still kinda iffy now - but I’m feeling better. I’m learning to be more open about my things and have better communication skills. Really helpful in relationships.”

Carol’s heart sank.

“Relationships?”

“Um… yeah, he name is Bruce… he’s the one that didn’t like me getting high. He helped me get into rehab and counseling, and now I’m here. We broke up though, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“That-that’s not what I- uh,” Carol sputtered uselessly, “uh, no, not what I meant. Um, actually-”

Val chuckled and stepped closer. She cradled Carol’s face and looked up to her.

“It’s okay,” she whispered,”I was wondering the same thing.”

They stood gazing at each other for a long time until one of them moved. Carol didn’t know who moved first - it was probably Valeryie - then they were connected for the first time in _ months _ and she _ missed _this so much and she was so happy and she hummed against Valeryie’s lips and-

“Can you two ladies take this elsewhere? This is a library, not date night,” an impatient voice reprimanded. They broke apart to see a small hispanic woman tapping her toe on the floor. She side-eyed them as she tried to ignore them.

“Oh, sorry,” Valeryie said, slipping her hand up Carol’s shirt from the back. Carol squeaked, then covered it with a cough. No one bought it, not even her.

“We have balconies outside, and bathrooms. You can even stay as long as your tongues are separated and your clothes are on,” the librarian attempted to bite back a grin.

Carol smiled sheepishly as Val’s hand gripped and released her bra strap with a slapping noise. A mild burning sensation stung briefly and she winced. The librarian sighed and turned away promptly.

Carol turned around struggling not to smile.

“She was telling us to stop!”

Valeryie bit her lip and glanced down.

“What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.”

Carol rolled her eyes, despite allowing Val to pull her back down again and again.

**Author's Note:**

> I know it's Valkyrie, not Valeryie, but I do what I want and this is real cute so.


End file.
